From www.fordham.edu:

"El Hasan ben Muhammed el-Wazzan-ez-Zayyati was born in the Moorish city of Granada in 1485, but was expelled along with his parents and thousands of other Muslims by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. Settling in Morocco, he studied in Fez, and as a teenager accompanied his uncle on diplomatic missions throughout North Africa and and to the Sub-Saharan kingdom of Ghana. Still a young man, he was captured by Christian pirates and presented as an exceptionally learned slave to the great Renaissance pope, Leo X. Leo freed him, baptised him under the name "Johannis Leo de Medici," and commissioned him to write in Italian the detailed survey of Africa which provided most of what Europeans knew about the continent for the next several centuries. At the time he visited the Ghanaian city of Timbuktu, it was somewhat past its peak, but still a thriving Islamic city famous for its learning. "Timbuktu" was to become a byword in Europe as the most inaccessible of cities, but at the time Leo visited, it was the center of a busy trade in African products and in books. Leo is said to have died in 1554 in Tunis, having reconverted to Islam."

Bookring:

1-Fellraven UK/anywhere
2-Koalabare UK/anywhere
3lauraloo29 Canada/ to the US


I would like everyone to make a journal entry when the book:
1. received.
2.read.
3.sent off.

thank you all for joining my ring :)

the book is sent to Fellraven. ENJOY :)

Received today as a bookring from Lady-Anglophile. Will try to read and forward it within 2 weeks.

Many thanks!

The second of Maalouf's novels I've read this year, this one too is a rich procession of sumptuous historical detail and travels, from Granada to Fez to Timbuktu to Cairo and on to Constaninople, the Papal Court of Rome and eventually to Tunis set against a Mediterranean and Europe in turmoil and change. Maalouf is a splendidly erudite and knowledgable writer, a historian and philosopher, and this book is far too short!

And so off to Koalabare!

Arrived home on Sunday afternoon to find this waiting for me - thanks Fellraven!

Will start soon.

Update 11/11/04 - OK, I've been at home this week frantically writing a coursework essay. Because of that, and because I usually do all my 'fun' reading on the commute into uni and back, I've not been able to start yet - a shame, as it's sitting forlornly on my bookshelf willing me to open it...

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel - my coursework gets handed in on Monday, and normal (reading) service will be resumed...it's a terrible thing to only have time to read worthy academic stuff, but there it is. OK, essay over. ;-)

Another update, 18/11/04 - nearly half way through and enjoying it!

Having read 'Balthasar's Odyssey' by Maalouf, I enjoyed this, but found it heavy going in places, partly as the characters and places, while distinct, tended to blur together after a while. However, the earlier parts of the book, detailing Hasan's boyhood in Granada and Fez, was fascinating (Granada is now on my list of 'to visit' places!).
Ultimately I found Hasan's constant meanderings strange - here is a man who cannot really settle anywhere, and seems content to let the women in his life come and go, despite his protestations of affection for them. I also thought it was strange that he seemed content to absorb whatever life threw at him - he was strangely unemotional at times, although this could be a cultural difference.
It was also good to read about a totally different culture - I've read novels set in this era, but they have been western European - I liked seeing the story from the other side of the Mediterranean!

On to lauraloo29 - and thanks lady-anglophile for sharing this!

Released on Wednesday, November 24, 2004 at about 10:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at The Post Office in fetcham, surrey, England United Kingdom.

RELEASE NOTES:

Posted to lauraloo29.

Arrived today. I look forward to reading it. I have a few bookrings before this. I'll get to it as quickly as I can. Thank you.

I would like to enjoy this book, but for some reason I'm not. Perhaps I prefer hearing a woman's perspective on history. I'm not sure. Nevertheless, I have a small pile of rings that also need my attention. :) Thank you for sharing!

Update - mailed home on December 16th.

i forgot to make a journal when i the book arrived home.
i would like to thank everyone who joined my ring :)

Received from lady-anglophile, with thanks!

RELEASE NOTES:

Ok, I give in, I've tried three times to get into this book and I'm finally admitting that it has defeated me.
Good luck to whoever finds it!